"Brendan Rodgers must be a real glutton for punishment," said Sky Sports pundit Jeff Stelling when commenting on the prospective transfer of AC Milan striker Mario Balotelli from the Serie A side to Liverpool.

The Reds had only ratified the £65 million sale of Luis Suarez earlier in the summer, but the implication is that Rodgers may have swapped one problem player for another, as despite Balotelli's obvious prowess in front of goal, but is often regarded to be "unmanageable" due to his difficult personality.

"On his day he can be terrific but that day doesn't come round often enough. He's had so many issues off the field - he's in the papers more often than David Cameron - and in fairness to him, it has sometimes been for the right reasons but too many times for the wrong ones and I remain to be convinced that he's going to be a big asset to the Premier League."